Preparedness # 35

Preparedness#35–Flu Update & Tin Can Ice Cream

As you may have guessed by the articles in the newspaper and TV etc. the flu season starts on October 4^th this year. (Who decides these dates? Does this mean we can’t get the flu sooner, yea and the Hurricane season too!) Anyway, here is the latest from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta on how to keep the flu under control. Utah is listed as having ‘sporadic outbreaks which is normal for this time of year. Other states like Arizona for example have significant problems with this flu already. (next door)

Five Tips For Keeping Kids [young and old] Flu Free

Tip 1: Make sure your children get a seasonal flu vaccine and the 2009 H1N1 vaccine. This week, Secretary Sebelius announced the H1N1 vaccine will be ready in early October. But the seasonal flu vaccine is available right now! The best way to protect against the flu – seasonal or 2009 H1N1 – is to get vaccinated. Children older than 6 months are a priority group for the H1N1 vaccine, which means they will be among the first to get the vaccine when it’s available. For more information about the H1N1 vaccine, visit http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination.

Tip 2: Encourage healthy hygiene in your home. Remind your kids to wash their hands and to cover their mouths with a tissue or shirt sleeve when they cough. Also, encourage them not to share drinks or eating utensils with their friends. For more guidance on hygiene tips for flu prevention, visit www.cdc.gov/cleanhands and http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/covercough.htm.

Tip 3: Make an effort to keep your kids’ play areas and toys clean. Use sanitizing wipes to wipe down toys, video games, and the computer. Visit http://nrckids.org for more information on cleaning in early childhood settings.

Tip 4: We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again - if your child has a fever or displays symptoms of the flu, including body aches, sore throat, headache or a cough, keep your child home from school.

Tip 5: Regularly visit www.flu.gov this flu season for the latest news about the flu and the vaccine, and for more tips to keep your family healthy this flu season.

To read the CDC’s Child Care and Early Childhood Guidance, visit http://www.flu.gov/professional/school/childguidance.html.

As promised, I have another way to use the empty gallon storage cans from the dry pack cannery or other sources. (This is my excuse for this being appropriate for the insert.) You will need a plastic snap on lid which you should have gotten with your order. If not, borrow or….. you will probably find it worth it to get a few extra.

Tin Can Ice cream

1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Half and Half – (add a little more if the milk is skim or 1%)
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Nuts or Fruit, as desired – We used frozen peaches(thawed) and peach yogurt

(I add a small container or 2 of yogurt in the flavor of the fruit added.)
1. Combine ingredients in a one quart Zip Loc Freezer bag.

2. Place inside a number 10 (gallon) food storage can like you get from the dry pack cannery.
3. Hold the bag upright in the middle of the can and Pack with crushed ice. Pour 1/2 cup rock salt evenly over ice. (Ice maker ice cubes work OK)
4. Place a tight fitting lid on the number 10 can. Tape with masking tape or Duct tape. (It is possible for the lid to come off and the contents to spill.)
5. Roll the can back and forth on a table or the floor or on the grass at the park or front lawn for about 15 minutes.

You may feel the bag inside rattling around like a thud in which case it has frozen solid and is ready to open. If you open and the ice cream is not firm, add a little more ice and a little more salt and roll some more. Don’t pour the salty water on the grass or plants or it will look like you had a very large dog visit your garden and it will last a long time!

It will be interesting to see what variations you come up with. M&Ms, gummy bears, okra? We will try Splenda instead of sugar and some other fruits. Let me know what works. Is this stretching preparedness? Nola and I reasoned that if we could dry whipping cream that there might be a reason for doing this! It’s fun and tasty and has no air or extra chemicals!

gv3grant@gmail.com 435 628-2739 http://rupreparedgv3.blogspot.com 9/20/09

Preparedness#34–Creative Storage Ideas 09/13/09

This week, just for fun I have searched for some ideas for making better use of space for storage and using no.10 gallon cans. Most of us are short on storage space for our emergency supplies but could be surprised what can be ‘stashed,’ with some creative thinking and some ideas from others who have already discovered some ways. Frankly, some of these ideas could look like they were created by ‘the ‘loving hands of home,’ and not really add to the décor of our homes. However, with some care, some of these and other ideas could really look good and provide a place for more of the emergency storage we need.. Remember too that when you are hungry, you may wish you had compromised a bit on ‘the look’ and been a little more obedient about storage. Here are some ideas that I found on the Internet for space and organization:

“Try bed risers and put them under beds, desk, bookcase, table legs so they are raised and have extra space underneath!

Blankets, curtains and sweaters can be stored between your mattress and box springs. All these items are best if stored flat and pressed. They never get lost, are always available and are wrinkle free when needed. [They stay relatively clean as well.]

1. Use screw-top, glass [or plastic] jars of various sizes for refrigerator storage. They're sanitary, do not stain, and you can tell at a glance how much of what remains to be used up!
2. Mount screw-in wooden knobs on a length of board, paint it, hang it with 2 or 3 large picture hooks to a wall at child height to encourage kids to "store" bathrobes, towels, jackets and such up off the chairs and floor!
3. Mount a number of ordinary curtain rods one over the other and you'll have a place to hang a library of magazines (by their spines), folded towels, or tablecloths and bureau linens. Of course you can paint the rods to compliment the room's decor.
   - Nett of NH

“My kitchen provides a few extra storage spaces: The space between my kitchen range and the counter is used for storing narrow items. Right now some of my carpentry tools are stashed there. I can also store my portable window screens there. The cabinets have an inset along the top that is about 2" deep. There extra kitchen linens are kept fresh in a plastic bag plus other flat items fit well.

Look for narrow spaces behind furniture and appliances. Often a few inches are lurking there unused. Don't overlook space underneath steps.” ~Charlotte

“Purchase one of those big, plastic trash cans (with the lids that snap on)... the kind you use to store trash, outdoors... take the lid off and place a piece of round plywood (or wood) on top; place a sheet/table cloth over the wood piece... and there you have it: a VERY LARGE storage container AND a side table. If you go to the snow, use the lid for a snow pan.

We have already talked about using a gallon can for a stove, but you can also put gallon ‘Zip Loc’ bags in them with the top folded over the edge and fill with liquid. If you have tried to do that without a support, you know what a good idea this is.

Above ideas come from: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf000519.tip.html

Someone mentioned a way to use a gallon can for an emergency car heater with a roll of TP and alcohol. Does anyone know about that? Sounds interesting for trips north in the winter, to include in the auto emergency kit.

Personally, I like baby food bottles for spare parts in the garage; especially the larger bottles. Just screw the lids to a 2X2 (all 4 sides) put nails into the ends and support with a bracket under a shelf and you have a rotating screw, nail and small part storage system. Make sure you have the same number of bottles on each of the 4 sides so it balances.

Next week I will share a recipe and process for Tin Can Ice Cream. Every kid should have their own personal kit! Some other recipes will also be included.

If you are not allowed to store liquid fuel where you live, consider storing charcoal. Make sure that it is allowed as well but it is quite important you have some type of fuel. I will be doing some more experimenting with Solar ovens etc. but in the mean time I would not plan on solar ovens taking care of all your heat needs. Charcoal is easy to store, does not deteriorate over time and is a very efficient fuel You may even find it on sale this fall. If you don’t have one, watch now for close out prices from camping and outdoor stores for Dutch Ovens. A few pieces of charcoal on the top and bottom of a dutch oven can cook an entire meal. Some of the meals are nothing short of spectacularl.

If any of you have ideas inspired by today’s comments, please share them with us

gv3grant@gmail.com 435 628-2739 http://rupreparedgv3.blogspot.com

Preparedness#33–A Zion People or ‘Which way does your tent door face’ 9/06/09

Preparedness#33–A Zion People or ‘Which way does your tent door face’ 9/06/09

One of my favorite lessons in the Old Testament is the lesson on the division of land between Abraham, the great patriarch and his special nephew Lot. History has taught us the ultimate fate of the two men but at the time that they moved into the new land that the Lord had given them, Abraham turned to Lot and asked him which of the land he wanted. The choices were rich fertile land nourished buy the water of a great river or the deseret land adjacent to it.

Lot chose the fertile land that was sure to yeild great wealth an prosperity. Abraham took what seemed to be waste land and baren of the plant life so abundant on Lot’s choice land.

The land that Lot chose included the great cities of Sodom and Gamorah. Knowing the type of things going on there, Lot and his family decided to pitch their tents far away in the grazing lands from the cities but faced the tent doors toward the cities just to keep an curious eye on the ‘goings on.’

Abraham, on the other hand, moved to his new desert home and built and altar. It was the closest thing to God he could create since he lacked the means or the time to build a temple. It was his sacred place. He then gave thanks for the new land the Lord had given him, blessed it to the good of his family and his ability to serve the Lord. Some would say he got a less than optimum start in the new place. He seems to never have been resentful of Lot’s choice to take the best and not divide it with some good and some bad evenly between them but made the most of what he was given.

After he gave thanks to the Lord for his ‘gift,’ he set up his tent with the door facing the alter he had just built and used to worship. To make a long story short, most of you know what finally happened to each man an his family. Lot and his family finally moved to Sodom, his wife turned to salt for not quite leaving Sodom in her heart, Lot and his family deteriorated spiritually.

Abraham, on the other hand became exceedingly wealthy, and became the patriarch through which the Covenant of all the blessings of the gospel/Priesthood were given – not only to him and his family, but all the worthy families and individuals on this Earth. What a man he must have been. I know it wasn’t just where he faced his tent door by accident that caused his blessing; it was that he was the kind of man that understood the principle and for good reason built and worshiped at the alter – then, pitched his tent toward the object of their worship to remind them daily of who they were and what they should be about. Lots choice had the same effect but with a different object and an opposite outcome!

So, as you examine your PREPARATION, which way have you ‘pitched’ your tent door. Is the majority of your involvement on a day to day schedule oriented to the big city on the plain with bright lights, the colorful entertainment and the ‘exciting’ entertainment of ‘Babylon’ or is your tent door facing the Temple with worldly persuits aimed at supporting your ability to give life to that existence of those who humbly live for and follow the Savior.

Those who follow the Savior, learn a new way. A way that we discussed last fall that was so succesful that Enoch and his people became so efficient at obedience that the whole city was taken up to heaven because it became heaven on earth. It became a Zion people. Their secret: They became a people that were pure in heart.- D&C 97:21

Today, I think that you spirits that are here are so sensitive that you know instinctively that you are the Lord’s chosen spirits to carry off the most important work the world has known. The great and small from the history of mankind are watching from the ‘other side’ to see if we will follow our individual mandate or blessing to fulfill the ‘measure of our creation’ and do the great work we were sent to do. Some of us, being the clever individuals we are seem to be trying to build our ‘tents with the door facing the big city AND the Temple hoping to be able to enjoy the ‘blessings’ of both at the same time.

The Lord makes it clear how impossible this is in Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Look up Mammon if you need a definition. )

Elder David R. Stone in April 2006 General Conference said the following: “In his first epistle, John writes: "I have written unto you . . . because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world" (1 John 2:14–15).

We do not need to adopt the standards, the mores, and the morals of Babylon. We can create Zion in the midst of Babylon. We can have our own standards for music and literature and dance and film and language. We can have our own standards for dress and deportment, for politeness and respect. We can live in accordance with the Lord's moral laws. We can limit how much of Babylon we allow into our homes by the media of communication.

We can live as a Zion people, if we wish to. Will it be hard? Of course it will, for the waves of Babylonian culture crash incessantly against our shores. Will it take courage? Of course it will.”

So then, which way is our tent door facing and are we willing to be pure in heart?

gv3grant@gmail.com 435 628-2739 http://rupreparedgv3.blogspot.com